SYMPTOMS 125 



The period of incubation is stated to be at least three days. 

 It is apparently longer than that in many cases. 



§ 112. Symptoms. The disease usually begins sud- 

 denly and violently. The animal refuses food, makes efforts 

 to vomit, has a rise of temperature, manifests severe nervous 

 disturbance, is very weak, torpid and indifferent to its sur- 

 roundings. When approached it tries to hide itself under its 

 bedding. The hind quarters become weak and paralyzed. 

 Muscular spasms and grinding of the teeth are sometimes 

 observed. At first there is constipation, the conjunctiva is of 

 a dark red or brownish-red color, and the eyelids are some- 

 times swollen. Usually a day or two after the first symptoms 

 develop or, perhaps, from the first, reddish spots appear on 

 the thin parts of the skin, such as the region of the navel, 

 lower surface of the chest, perineum, inner surface of the 

 thighs, ears and throat. These spots, which at first are bright 

 red and about the size of a man's hand, become, later on, dark 

 red or purple, and soon unite into large, irregularly-shaped 

 patches. As a rule, they are neither painful to the touch nor 

 prominent, but sometimes they show a slight inflammatory 

 swelling. The skin of the red spots, especially of the ears, 

 may suffer from an eruption of vesicles and may even slough. 

 The reddening of the skin may be very slight in severe cases, 

 or may appear only immediately before, or even after, death. 

 Death takes place usually on the third or fourth day. In the 

 very severe form, the animal may die in twenty-four hours, 

 otherwise the disease requires a week or longer to run its 

 course. 



Jensen considers that this disease, instead of being uniform 

 in its clinical aspects, manifests itself in the following forms, 

 which differ from each other by well-marked peculiarities. 

 The forms recognized as varieties of this disease but more 

 generally considered as distinct maladies and known by differ- 

 ent names are as follows : 



1. True erysipelas. 



2. Swine urticaria. 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



